diff --git a/util/env_posix.cc b/util/env_posix.cc
index 4935e47f8..bce9526a6 100644
--- a/util/env_posix.cc
+++ b/util/env_posix.cc
@@ -174,10 +174,10 @@ class PosixSequentialFile: public SequentialFile {
 
   virtual Status Read(size_t n, Slice* result, char* scratch) {
     Status s;
-    size_t r = -1;
+    size_t r = 0;
     do {
       r = fread_unlocked(scratch, 1, n, file_);
-    } while (r < 0 && errno == EINTR);
+    } while (r == 0 && ferror(file_) && errno == EINTR);
     *result = Slice(scratch, r);
     if (r < n) {
       if (feof(file_)) {